My Coach and Me

I ran into a dear old friend of mine tonight, who I haven't seen in many months. It was so wonderful to laugh and connect with her (thanks, Pam!) As we were talking, she saw my purse and said, "Hey, nice Coach!" and it made me smile. So, I proceeded to tell her the whole story about My Coach and Me. When I finished, I knew that it was something I wanted to share with you. So, before I begin . . . . let me show you my Coach. Eh-hem. . . . my Winter Coach, that is.



She's a beauty, isn't she? And I can't even believe she is mine. You see, I am NOT a "Coach" kind of girl. Not that I don't LOVE my Coach, (this Coach is my most cherished purse), but I have never in my life owned a coach purse, until this one. I take that back - I do believe my sister gave me one of her's probably 20 years ago. But that is about it. So, now to my story of My Coach and Me . . .

Last summer I visited a Coach Outlet with my dear sister-in-law, Maria, and her dear husband, my brother-in-law Angelo. We had just completed an awesome week visiting them in New York and ended our vacation with a visit to a Coach Outlet store in Pennsylvania. I found a particular purse that I just loved for about $180 dollars (that is with the outlet store discount). I contemplated buying that purse for a good 15 or 20 minutes. I would pick it up, walk around with it, try it on my shoulder, then return it to it's display with no purchase being made. I must have gone through this 5 or 6 times. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law kept encouraging me to buy it, but I knew that the price tag was WAY OVER what I would EVER spend on a purse. WAY WAY OVER. My sister-in-law tried telling me that I deserved to treat myself to it. I refused. And finally, we left the store. No Coach purse in hand.

And I was completely o.k. with that.

Fast forward 1 year later . . . and another trip to New York. This time I was there for the christening of my Godson (Maria and Angelo's son, Carlo). It was an absolutely amazing trip, and I am so blessed and fortunate to have been asked to be Godmother to this darling baby boy. My brother-in-law comes from a very traditional Italian family (an amazingly wonderful group of people who I absolutely adore). The christening was such a joyous and special day, and we followed many of the traditions of the family, including having the Godparents dress the baby in his baptismal outfit (with the whole family looking on). Could you imagine how nervous I was having 15 Italians watching me dress this first born baby boy? My hands were shaking!

Anyway, after Baby Carlo was dressed, the Godparents were presented with gifts from Maria, Angelo and Carlo. I thought perhaps a lovely picture frame with a photo of Carlo or a pin or something. But, no . . . . my sister-in-law and brother-in-law went all out and gave me TWO Coach purses. One for Summer . . .

. . . and one for Winter (which is the one my friend commented on tonight). I still can't believe it. I opened the beautifully wrapped packages, and saw my eyes looking at two Coach purses. My eyes welled up with tears, and I hugged my sister-in-law. I still can't believe they did that for me. She looked at me and said, "We know that you would never go and buy yourself one, so we had to go and buy you two. Now you have one for Summer and Winter." Seriously. Isn't that the absolute kindest thing? I still can't believe it. TWO Coach purses . . . . for me. Seriously.

A few months after that, Maria, Angelo and Carlo came to Chicago for a visit. It was the end of July, right in the middle of Summer. And you know what? I was NOT using my Coach purse. Why not? you ask? Well . . . because . . . . it was too nice. Too expensive. Too perfect to use. Seriously.

Don't worry . . . one look from my Italian Brother-in-law as he questioned why I wasn't using the purse and I knew that I had better use in NOW . . . OR ELSE! ; ) And I have used it, and now the Winter Coach, ever since. I've said it before - I am so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by the best people on this earth. Not because they give me Coach purses. But because they love me so much that they want to treat me to things I would never treat myself to. Because they take care of me. I am blessed because they are my family. So, there's the story of My Coach and Me. And Maria and Ang - I love you guys! Thank you so much for being so very good to me.